In a data storage system using erasure encoding, an erasure encoding scheme is applied to an original data file to generate a plurality of erasure encoded fragments. The original data file may then be discarded. Subsequently, it may be desirable or necessary to again generate erasure encoded fragments, such as to replace lost or damaged erasure encoded fragments or to add erasure encoded fragments to, for example, increase the likelihood of having sufficient erasure encoded fragments available to permit reconstruction of the original data file.
To subsequently generate erasure encoded fragments if the original data file is no longer available, some of the valid, available, previously-generated erasure encoded fragments are used to rebuild or reconstruct the data file. This reconstructed data file can then be used to generate new erasure encoded fragments. Also, as disclosed below, erasure encoded fragments can be subsequently generated directly from some of the original or previously-generated valid and available erasure encoded fragments, rather than being generated from a data file. Verification of the fidelity of such subsequently generated erasure encoded fragments may, however, be difficult.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure presented herein has been made.